VOTW: Will you ask Him? John 4 10 (8 Aug 2021)

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” John 4 10

The story of the woman at the well is very well-known and many have come back to this story, again and again, to draw upon the wonderful gracious words that Jesus lavished upon a woman found in sin. For this week, let us dwell upon this particular comment which Jesus said in reply to the woman's retort, after Jesus had asked her for a drink of water from the well.

For a little context, Jesus was tired and had just sent His disciples to get some food in the city. He waited beside a well and rested, having had a long journey from Judea. There is a little nugget of joy to be found in this small action of the Lord: the One who drew the waters of the earth into its place, the One who shifted planets into position, the same One rested beside a little well just outside a city. The very definition of Strength has lowered Himself into a finite capacity of labour, yet He never lost His full Glory or Power. And we see in a few verses' time that His strength is not rejuvenated by mere food or water, but by the ministering and giving of His own power. This is a mystery that is beautifully hidden in plain sight.

After asking the woman for a drink of water, she replies hastily:

“How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” John 4:9

John helpfully included a little explanation of the social context of the era saying that "Jews had no dealings with Samaritans"(v9). She was basically rejecting Jesus' request for help.

And we come into the verse of the week, in which Jesus gave an incredible reply. What is the gift of God? And what is the identity of the Man before her? As a reader, we would have already read in John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Jesus is the Gift of God.

And at the end of this story, Jesus reveals His identity to this woman:

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Jesus is the Messiah.

When we come back to read the verse of the week, we see that the request that Jesus asked of the woman, to give Him a drink, was not a request to take from her, but an invitation to give Himself. If she knew the gift of God and who it was who asked her, she herself would have asked of Him! And Jesus Himself made a promise: that He would have given her living waters. Jesus wasn't really asking her for the water, verses 31-33 showed He had no need of the physical sustenance: Jesus wanted to give her living waters. Our Lord is a giver! He came to give His Salvation!

Lord, this line from You, just reveals to me the fact that each time I feel like You are asking something from me, it is actually an invitation for me to ask from You, the strength and the provision for whatever I need or am trusted to do.

Beloveds of the Lord reading this, if you knew the Gift of God and who it is who is asking to enter your life, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. Because He has already given you His life on the cross, what more would He not?